Capri

Today we headed to the island of Capri (Kah' - pree).  After breakfast at a bar in Sorrento, we headed down to the waterfront to catch the shuttle boat.  Wow, our boat ride was 50 euro for all 4 of us - one way for a 15 minute ride!!

Street in Sorrento where our breakfast bar is.  This narrow street is full of shops and shoppers.

Looking up at Sorrento from the waterfront

Capri was made famous as a hideaway for the Roman Emperors Augustus and Tiberius.  Today it is a tourist island, packed with souvenir shops and trendy designer stores.  The island is also famous for the Blue Grotto.  The grotto is a sea cave in which the waters are brilliant blue.  It was actually an ancient Roman nymphaeum - a retreat for 'hanky panky'.  We did not visit the grotto because of time constraints and because the seas were rough today. 

We did get talked into a 'bus' tour of the island.  The four of us and about 15 others piled into a small bus for a ride up the mountain to Anacapri.  At the top we visited Villa San Michele, a 19th century mansion built by Avel Munthe.  Munthe was a Swedish doctor who lived on the island until 1949. 

Views from the bus tour as we headed up the mountain.

Our guide in the cap, at the front of the bus.

Carolyn chooses not to look down the steep cliffside.

View of mainland Italy

Capri Town below, the main city on the island

We had lunch at a pizzeria in Anacapri, then rode the bus back down to Capri Town.  We were a bit disappointed at how little time we had in Anacapri.  The guide didn't even take us into the beautiful city center.

Capri Town is a extremely touristy shopping town.  We wandered the town a bit.  Katrina took some pictures in the narrow lanes while Carolyn enjoyed a 10 euro coffee....whew!  I had a 5 euro can of Coca Cola.  I guess its all about location.  We realized that we should have stuck to our usual plan of sightseeing on our own.  Oh well, you live and learn. 

Interesting map on the roof of a house below our lookout.

As the sun began to go down, we caught the shuttle boat (another 50 euro) back to Sorrento.  What a scam!  

We had to climb a lot of stairs to get from the waterfront back up to Sorrento.

This evening we enjoyed a wonderful dinner at a restaurant recommended by the host at our hotel.  Caroly and I really loved our steaks.  The wine Katrina picked out was excellent as well.  So, as you can probably tell, we weren't all that impressed with Capri, but we did have a good day and it ended on a high note at dinner. 

Tomorrow we will see the Amalfi Coast.